This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

VANCOUVER—In a promising study that is the first to report a long-term halt to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, symptoms of the disease were stabilized for three years in a small group of patients receiving a treatment already approved for other medical uses.

In a study released Tuesday at the U.S.-based Alzheimer’s Association conference going on in Vancouver, researchers reported there is reason to be hopeful with the limited results that have emerged so far from a therapy that uses pooled antibodies injected into patients.

“The objective was to either improve the functioning or slow the progression of decline,” said Dr. Ralph Nixon, chair of the medical and scientific advisory council for the Alzheimer’s Association. “The treatment in this case was IVIG, which is a mixture of antibodies collected from the blood of healthy human individuals.”

Nixon said the treatment uses the strategy of immunotherapy, a generic approach which introduces an antibody into a patient to try to neutralize a factor that is important for the disease’s progression.

The original treatment trial, based out of the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, was to last six months but the results were so positive that the treatment trial was extended to 36 months.

IVIG is a blood product of pooled antibodies. Each dose is extracted from the plasma of more than 1,000 blood donors. The agent has a proven safety record and has been used for more than three decades to treat mostly patients with pediatric immune deficiencies — the so-called bubble kids.

It has also been used to treat other autoimmune and neurological conditions but has not been approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study’s leader, Dr. Norman Relkin of Weill Cornell Medical College, said the results are promising but researchers involved in the study want to emphasize that they are not encouraging the “off-label” prescription of IVIG.

IVIG is available in limited supplies. Current patients on the blood agent can only survive by getting this particular product.

“We don’t want to bankrupt the available supplies by creating false hope or a premature use of this product,” said Relkin.

Of the 24 patients involved in the study, eight received a placebo while the others got various doses of IVIG. Relkin said the study was initially designed to be a “futility study” to see whether it was worth going ahead with further studies.

“It was not a futile treatment. … It showed patients continued to benefit,” he said, citing measures such as a slower rate of brain shrinkage in patients who got IVIG versus those who had a placebo.

The results were promising enough that of the 21 patients who agreed to continue treatment for 24 months, the original placebo-treated group were added to receive doses of IVIG.

The patients who were treated for 36 months and given doses of IVIG every two weeks had the best outcome: there was no decline on several standard measures of cognition, memory, daily functioning and mood at the end of three years.

The five participants who were originally on a placebo and then switched to IVIG declined while on the placebo but experienced less rapid decline after receiving IVIG therapy.

“The group that received continuous treatment did better than those who had a delayed start,” said Relkin. “While the small number of participants may limit the reliability of our findings, we are very enthusiastic about the results.”

In comparison, Relkin said when Alzheimer’s patients are untreated, there is a measurable decline below a baseline measurement within three to six months. Patients treated with currently available therapies can expect a drop below that baseline between six to 12 months.

The research trials have been expanded; there are now 390 patients in the study, including a number in Canada. Those results are expected in the first half of 2013.

The Vancouver conference is the largest international gathering of scientists presenting the latest findings in Alzheimer’s disease.

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com